WALNUT CREEK -- Thanks to months of research by genealogical experts, A's general manager Billy Beane learned over the weekend that he has the ingredients for the wackiest family reunion of all-time.

His relatives include Madonna (10th cousins, one generation removed), Celine Dion (11th cousins, once removed), Hillary Clinton (10thth cousins, three times removed) and Camilla Parker-Bowles (11th cousin, two times removed).

"I wasn't going to say anything, but now I can: This is the reason Madonna and I have never dated," Beane joked during a phone interview Monday.

A's general manager Billy Beane is a distant cousin of actress Angelina Jolie, according to his family tree. (Yahoo Sports)

In truth, Beane had no idea about the connection until told on stage Saturday night. Like so many others in the audience, he gasped "What?" and "No way!" as the quirky branches of his family tree were unveiled during a fundraising event for the California Genealogical Society and Library.

Olympic swimmer Natalie Coughlin and heavy-metal drummer Tim Alexander also had their ancestry explored for a presentation called "Their Roots Are Showing" at the Del Valle Theatre.

As it turns out, Beane's mother's side is connected to the earliest wave of French settlers in Canada, which explains his link to Madonna and just about everyone else of French-Canadian descent.

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Another distant but verifiable cousin is Angelina Jolie, a revelation that prompted Beane to call Brad Pitt after the show to alert him to a belated plot twist in "Moneyball."

This all started with Abraham Martin and his wife, Marguerite Langlois, the second French family to settle in Canada. They landed in 1619, about the same time Bud Selig began studying the A's proposed moved to San Jose.

Robert Jackson, the researcher who unearthed the French-Canadian connections, nodded in Beane's direction when he said these early settlers were once described as "accustomed when necessary to living on little, robust and vigorous, very self-willed ... witty and vivacious."

Jackson also showed a photo of a monument in Quebec City that memorializes the founding families of Canada. The names of Beane's relatives can be found on that monument.

"Your ancestors founded Canada," Jackson said.

Armed with that news, Beane said he planned to call Toronto Blue Jays general manager Alex Anthopoulos to tell him: "I am your ruler! I command that you bow. And trade me your right-handed bats."

Many relatives on his father's side, meanwhile, were illiterate rural farmers from rural North Carolina.

"They never owned their own land," researcher Todd Armstrong said. "These were hardscrabble people, very tenacious and very proud of where they came from. They had really fighting blood in them."

At least eight of Beane's great-grandfathers fought in the Civil War, probably more. Most of them fought on the Confederate side, including John Bean -- the "e" would come later -- who played the fife in his regiment. He deserted within nine months.

"Well, they gave him a flute, not a gun," Beane quipped. "So I would have deserted, too."

Another relative, John Lisk, remains famous among North Carolina historians for an act of bravery during the Battle of Yellow Tavern in Virginia in May 1864. Under the cover of darkness, Col. Lisk ventured alone across Yankee enemy lines to retrieve a captain who had been killed in battle, hoisted the body upon his shoulders and returned to safety.

"This is more like it," Beane said. "This is actually my family."

Lisk was taken prisoner in fall 1864, becoming the first recorded man in the Beane lineage to be halted in October by a better-equipped Yankee squad.

Beane, like all of the celebrity panelists, said they were interested in learning more about the origins of their family. All of the extensive work to date was done on a volunteer basis by the nonprofit organization. (Suggested slogan, to tweak an iconic quote from "Moneyball:" "We're not selling genes here.")

In the phone interview, Beane said he was especially excited for his daughters, Casey and Tinsley, to learn about the number of accomplished female cousins in his family tree.

"One of the takeaways for me was that the men in the family really have to get their act together," he joked.

Beane also remains particularly intrigued by a photo of a gorgeous expanse of land above Quebec City called "Plains of Abraham." The 32-acre area was named after his ancestor.

If you're interested, the California Genealogical Society and Library (CaliforniaAncestors.org) is a nonprofit. The library is in the Breuner Building at 2201 Broadway, Suite LL2 in Oakland. Follow Daniel Brown on Twitter at twitter.com/mercbrownie.